Stakeholders in Plateau State have praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting the bye-election in the state’s Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency in a peaceful and orderly manner.
Some members of the area have expressed concern about voter apathy in some Jos neighborhoods.
The majority of the polling units in the constituency were likewise quite secure, according to 360 MEDIA.
Senator Istifanus Gyang of Plateau North, speaking to journalists, praised the electoral umpire (INEC) for simultaneous accreditation and voting, claiming that it decongested polling units and made the election calm.
Gyang noted that voter turnout in the afternoon was higher than in the morning, and urged voters to constantly come out and fulfill their civic responsibilities.
“We just came out of our situation room and noticed that certain polling units’ materials were incomplete; we only have 500 ballot papers instead of 700, but that is being remedied.”
“As we speak, people are showing up, and we want it to continue so that people may exercise their right to vote.” I urge voters and members of our community to cast their ballots.
“I appreciate INEC for this move,” he added. “Accreditation and voting at the same moment is good because it makes it easy for voters. Instead of accreditation and waiting, some individuals might not be patient enough to wait.”
Prof. Danladi Atu, the Secretary to the Government of Plateau State, also spoke on how calm the election was.
“The election has been quite quiet; we haven’t heard of any violence, and people are using their right to vote without fear.”
“INEC has introduced new innovation into the electoral process,” he says, “and it may not be without obstacles.” But I must compliment INEC because they are doing a good job; they have addressed some of the issues that arose earlier in the day when voting materials were mixed up.
“The machines have been pretty reliable, with the exception of a few glitches in some regions; I didn’t spend more than three minutes voting, and it was really smooth over here.”
A candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Adamu Mohammad Alkali, expressed satisfaction with the electoral process and described the poll as peaceful.
He encouraged the people to sustain a peaceful atmosphere during and after voting.
The National INEC Commissioner in charge of the Plateau bye-election, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru described the electoral process as peaceful and credible.
“We have had issues of one or two places but in all the places where we have gone, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is working perfectly.
“Although we have had one or two cases where the BVAS are not working but we have ratified them.
“The process has been very peaceful, working smoothly. A lot of places I went, as at the time I went, the turnout wasn’t impressive, but it improved later”, he explained.
Bulus Ali, a resident of Jos, told 360 MEDIA T that he was disappointed about the low turnout of the electorate for the polls.
“Honestly, I’m highly disappointed about the turnout of the voters, for instance at my polling unit at Hill Station junction, Jos North where we have over a hundred registered voters, only 15 people voted.
“This is not good for the system, I’m deeply saddened by the attitude of our people towards their civic responsibility”, he said.
Also speaking, Mrs Awiki Musa, said, “The turnout in my polling unit at Alheri, Jos North, was very discouraging; but I don’t blame people, because I tried to encourage some of them to come and vote, but they refused, saying their votes don’t count.
“If you recall in 2019 when we voted for a candidate that we knew clearly won this election, but we were shortchanged, and it was given to someone else.
“I believe these are some of the reasons why citizens are discouraged to come out and vote.”
Mr Apollos Ezekiel, of Jenta Apata, in Jos North, also decried that out of over 600 registered voters, only 40 voters in his polling unit, a situation he described as ” Unfortunate “.
“If don’t come out to exercise our civic responsibility, then we will continue to have unqualified people representing us”, he lamented.
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